Spools or reels are well known for transporting and storing bulk wire, cable and/or other wound material such as welding wire, electrical wire, bailing wire, and the like. A typical spool comprises a pair of spaced apart disc-shaped flanges joined by a central barrel. Wire or cable is spirally wound around the central barrel between the spaced flanges until the spool is filled with the appropriate amount of material. Filled spools can then be stacked atop one another for shipment, storage and subsequent use. When it is desired to dispense the wire or cable, it may be pulled progressively from the spool, which may be mounted on an arbor or spindle to rotate and thus pay out the wound material. If only a portion of the wire or cable is used, the free end of the remaining portion may be secured to one of the flanges of the reel, whereupon the spool can be stored for future use.
Welding wire is one type of material that may be wound on to and dispensed from a spool. The spool is typically placed onto the arbor of a wire feeder where the coiled wire is fed to a drive motor and subsequently to a welding gun. One example of a welding process using spools in this manner may include Gas-Metal-Arc-Welding (GMAW). The welding wire or electrode may be continuously fed to the workpiece until the spool has been depleted of welding wire.
One aspect in the use of spools to retain welding wire relates to how the product is identified. Welding wire requires proper labeling to identify not only the type of material included therein but also to identify product usage warnings. It is important for any label once applied to remain in place until all of the welding wire has been dispensed from the spool. Many labels applied to spools become dislodged from the surface of the spool to which they are applied and/or their edges frayed, making them susceptible to peeling. What is needed is a spool having a delineated area for receiving one or more labels that helps the labels stay in place once applied.
Another aspect of welding wire spools pertains to how the welding wire is secured to the spool when not in use. Coiled welding wire has memory and a tendency to unravel when not secured or grounded to the spool or wire feeder. In some applications, welding wire is routed through holes in the spool to retain an end of the welding wire. However, the wire frequently pulls free from the holes in the spool thereby inadvertently unraveling, which may contact other welding components connected to the welding power supply. What is needed is an economical and reliable way to retain welding wire wound on the spools when not in use.
Still another aspect of welding wire spools relates to the strength of the spool components. Plastics have become commonplace for the construction of articles like spools or reels. However, the manufacture of plastic spools by conventional forming techniques is complex and many of the currently available low-cost plastic spools are deficient in strength and durability. Higher strength plastic spools, on the other hand, frequently contain additional plastic material making them heavier and more expensive. What is needed is a spool design that minimizes the amount of material used in constructing the spool.
Advancements in manufacturing have led to the increased use of automated technology. These advancements frequently utilize sensors that detect the presence and/or position of products used in the manufacturing process. Such use of sensors is also applied to the winding of welding wire on to spools. However, consistent and reliable data fed back from the sensors is necessary to ensure quality. This in part may be related to the construction of the spool itself. What is needed is a spool that can be used in conjunction with sensor technology to feedback reliable information used to control quality in the manufacturing process.
The embodiments of the subject invention obviate the aforementioned problems of currently available spools used in the marketplace today.